Honda gets out – Red Bull has to look for a new engine
Stand: 02.10.2020 | Reading time: 3 minutes
Red Bull still drives a Honda engine
Quelle: Getty Images/Bryn Lennon
For the second year in a row, Red Bull is driving its laps in Formula 1 with Honda engines. But not for long – the manufacturer is leaving Formula 1. The reason should give the racing series food for thought.
VOily surprising, Honda has announced its departure from the premier class of motorsport. The withdrawal of the engine supplier shocked Formula 1. Seven years after the comeback at McLaren, the Japanese company said goodbye at the end of 2021 and stopped its multi-billion dollar program. Max Verstappen’s Red Bull racing team and sister team Alpha Tauri must have found a new engine partner by 2022.
The Japanese group justified its withdrawal in Tokyo on Friday with the “great transformation” that the auto industry is currently facing. Honda’s goal is to be climate-neutral by the end of 2050. Red Bull team boss Christian Horner confirmed that they wanted to stay in Formula 1 in the long term. Honda returned to the motorsport premier class in 2015 and initially supplied its old partner McLaren with engines again.
For the 2019 season, Red Bull switched from long-term engine partner Renault, with whom they won four world championships, to Honda. The Alpha Tauri partner team had already worked with Honda a year earlier. The hoped for success did not materialize. The Japanese company couldn’t build a drive that could keep up with its dominant competitor, Mercedes. The engine is considered to be Red Bull’s weak point. Overall, Red Bull won four wins with the Honda engine, Alpha Tauri one.
“As a team, we understand how difficult it was for Honda to make the decision to get out of Formula 1 at the end of the 2021 season,” said Christian Horner.
Red Bull faces a dilemma
Bitter for Formula 1: Honda does not see the racing series as a sustainable concept, the manufacturer wants to concentrate on other areas. In a statement it says: “Honda must bundle its resources in research and development in the fields of drive units and energy technologies of the future. These include fuel cell and electric vehicles, which are the core CO2-free technologies. “
The corona pandemic with production stops and interrupted supply chains has also hit the auto industry hard. As of March 31, 2021, Honda expects a net profit of 165 billion yen (1.3 billion euros) – 63.8 percent less than in the previous year. The automotive industry is in a “once-in-100-year period of great upheaval,” wrote the automaker. Honda wants to stay connected to motorsport. The all-electric Formula E could be a goal. The Japanese have memories of the glorious 80s and 90s when, together with McLaren, they won 44 Grand Prix and eight World Championship titles.
Rare picture: Max Verstappen after a win with a Honda engine
Quelle: Getty Images/Bryn Lennon
For Red Bull, this means that as things stand, only a switch to Mercedes, Ferrari or Renault is possible. There are currently no other engine manufacturers in Formula 1, but none of them appear to be an alternative to Honda. Red Bull separated from the French carmaker Renault in disagreement in 2018 and it is hard to believe that Red Bull is using engines from its title rivals Mercedes or Ferrari.
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